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What is the difference between “troco” and “trocado” in Portuguese?

Two Portuguese words split what English calls “change.” Troco is what the cashier hands back when you overpay: pode ficar com o troco, “keep the change.” Trocado is the small money already in your pocket, coins and low notes: você tem trocado? asks whether you can pay something close to exact. Mixing the two is the classic learner slip at a till.

Both come from trocar, “to exchange” — the verb behind trocar de roupa (change clothes) and the noun troca (a swap, as in em troca de, “in exchange for”). The diminutive trocadinho softens a small handful of coins into something friendly, which is how a shopkeeper offers it. Unrelated homograph to watch: troco is also “I exchange,” first person of trocar.